Purchased at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. Bottled on November 30th, 2005 and consumed on April 15th, 2008.

A- Poured into a Duvel tulip glass, this beer pours a cloudy, deep gold color with a large white head that settles to a thin layer, leaving minimal lacing on the glass.

S- An extremely musty, tart, and acidic aroma with strong notes of vinegar and pure lemon juice. There are some grassy and floral notes as well with the slightest hint of malt sweetness in the background.

T- Yikes. The sourness is intense, but it quickly fades, leaving a very dry finish and almost no lingering flavors on the palate. There are all the same characteristics of the aroma here: vinegar, lemon and grass.

M- A medium-bodied feel with lively carbonation.

D- Although the sourness is very intense, I found that I had no problem drinking the entire 12.7 ounce bottle. The ABV is only 6%, so the alcohol isn't a factor.

Bottle courtesy of geuzelover.
Pours golden with no head. Smell is musty, funky, and fairly standard, I thought. Generally unappealing to me. Taste is tart but less so than the Cantillon Classic Geuze. Somewhat musty, dirty, but with a sharp oaky sourness.

The cork pops & the smoke rises. Do I let it breathe, plug it & let it sit, chug it, cook it dinner, what do I do?!?! My dog sees my face frozen in confusion & immediately snaps me out of it with a piercing yelp. I stumble around & find my dusty tulip, give it a strong rinse, & proceed to pour.

A hazy lemon orange honey pour settles in my glass & grows a rather porous white comb-over of head. The foam thickens up on subsequent pours, but we're on to more important things. The smell has already reached me, so I gain focus & get let a little closer.

A sense of something pickled, sharp kiwis & tangy cantaloupe, something between semi-ripe watermelon & sour cherry candy(a fresh bag of sour skittles?), plenty of salt, something like stale garlic, along with some dry grass & ethanol way in the background. It's so pungent. Why am I not offended?

I go to take a sip & it just rushes in. I don't know what came over me. It must of been instinctive, I just gulped down six ounces like it was an everyday thing. ...and it should be. :D

Lemon juice, the sour sugar that Sour Patch Kids are dredged in, the white meat off half-ripe strawberries, grapefruit, citric acid is everywhere & its bitterness lingers for a long while, turning a little barky at the end. Just the faintest hint of dough in there somewhere. Why bother? :P

As it warms, the sourness flatlines some & turns a little wheaty. Letting the bottle last that long was a mistake on my part. Drink, drink!

Thin & frothy, a lightly greased taste, but it leaves a dry feeling once it goes down(like I just licked a bunch of envelopes). My tongue is getting numb, am I going to die?

Straddling the line of spoiled orange juice & yesterday's digestive juices, who can honestly say this is exactly what was intended so many years ago. Purple monkey dishwasher?

Hand me a blank check & this replaces the juice in the fridge. The only reason I can't give it a 5 here is price.

Opened a well settled bottle and got a bright and clear yellow pour with a rocky white head.

The aroma was full of brettanomyces barnyard funk, lactic acid, some acetic note, and mild cheesiness. There was also a burst of chlorine that I've found in many DF beers when first poured. That seemed to dissipate within a few minutes.

The flavor was pretty tart and acidic. The beer had a clean biscuity backbone (very subtle, but nice). Slightly wheaty.

The carbonation was spritzy the mouthfeel was reasonably crisp. Slightly fuller bodied and sweeter than Cantillon gueuzes, which took away from the drinkability IMO.

Beer bootle (37,5cl/2006 vintage), tasted in 2008.
Appearance : Orange yellow color, without any foam head and sparkling ?
Smell : On the nose it is fruity (apple, pear, citrus, lemon)
Taste and mouthfeel : In the mouth it's sour. Bitter notes. Aftertaste is dry.
Drinkability : a very good beer, complex and refreshing in the traditional gueuze style.

Pours a hazy orange with just a thin wispy foam, with a very thin ring. There's very little foam, bu surprisingly the little that is present leaves a thin webbing of lace.

Smell; sour apples, vinegar and hints of barnyard funk. Amazingly through all of that a little bit of sweetness is noticeable as well. The aromas from this are powerful, I can easily smell this from across the table.

Taste; astringent acidity, and sour apple start things off and the vinegar and funkiness come through. Though not as powerfully as the nose led on. As with the nose I'm a bit surprised that a touch of sweetness comes through, with hints of lemon.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a very low carbonation, with a good drinkability. I had this beer a couple of years ago and did not care for it, or really any geuze really, at that time. I recently tried a Geuze at a beer tasting, adn was surprised how I njoyed. I decided I had o give this another shot, and I'm glad I did.

2006 vintage bottle that I was able to pick up in a trade along with a 2004 that I will hold out on for a little bit. I was most excited to get the two vintages to compare, and that this beer has elluded me for quite some time, but anyway I decided to pop this one on a fine, semi spring like day. Popped with a loud bang and was very active from the onset, that much was for sure. Tons of carbonation rippling through both the bottle and the glass throughout the sesssion, a huge carbonation explosion. Very nice bright amber color with a huge amount of white fizzy head on top. At least four inches of white foam topping off this one made it look wonderful, with a deep cloudy and hazy look to it, I knew it was aged well.

The aroma was so sour and bitter, I had a cheek to cheek grin immediatly. Simply a wonderful aroma here, tons of yeast coming through, lots of light sour grapes and tartness. The flavor was superb, really one of the best I have ever had. The first light notes of sour yeast roll across the tongue and just explode in your mouth, rippling and shredding taste buds all the way. Nice white grapes, light grains, and fresh grass all coming through. As it warmed some more subtle pear and apple characters were coming through now, this was astoundingly complex, so much so I did not really even know where to begin with this. I was floored by the flavor here. The carbonation was huge, keeping it light and airy and really letting every get to a depth that was confoundingly complex. Simply great. I easily threw done the whole bottle, as at only 6% this was simply outstanding. If I had more then one other bottle I would have reached for it immediatly. Long lingering dried out bitter finish had so much complex flavor that I was just letting linger on and on as I did not want to let it stop.

Overall easily one of the best beers, regardless of style that i have ever had the pleasure of drinking. There isn ot a bad word that could be said about this, it was literally the epitome of the style for me and I would love to get another of these. Amazingly complex beer, and something I think everyone should get to try at some point.

Appearance - Pours a nearly opaque dirty golden color, somewhat more orange at the core. A big fluffy white 2 inch head rises almost immediately and lasts for the entire glass.

Smell - Intensely funky and musty. Barnyard, old leather, lemons, goat cheese and a hint of spoiled milk. More pleasant than it sounds.

Taste - Wonderfully funky and sour, but not over the top in either character. Tart, unripe fruit is at the forefront here, with earthy undertones of oak and hay. A touch of vanilla is present in the background, leaving the faintest hint of sweetness on the tongue. Fairly low acidity makes this a very drinkable gueuze. My only gripe is that the finish could use a bit more oak; otherwise, this is top notch.

I'm finally opening this fixture of my cellar. I haven't had too much Belgian anything lately, so this will be a treat.

Bottled: November 30 2005

APPEARANCE: Pours a slightly hazy amber golden into my Hennepin goblet. A rocky, loose-bubbled, white head forms atop the beer and drops to a nearly full surface covering.

SMELL: Funkalicious! A heavy sourness is joined by a pungent wet hay. It's like a sour fruitiness combined with a funky barnyard combined with a musty basement combined with a Belgian beer. It's really awesome. The tart fruit qualities seem to outweigh the funk, but only by the slimmest of margins.

TASTE: It begins wonderfully smooth with a mild sour funk that seem like it'll be a sneak preview of things to come. And boy is it ever. The funk comes first in the form of more musty basement. As the beer finishes however, an overwhelming sour tartness comes on with lemon and apricot. By the time you've swallowed, you're left with such a puckering sourness that you can't help but take another sip. I love it.

MOUTHFEEL: The light body makes this beer seem quite dry. The carbonation is at a lower level, but still is piquant and sharp.

DRINKABILITY: The sourness might be a slight knock on the drinkability, but it still goes away way too fast. The lower ABV and light body don't hurt either.

Wow, what a treat. If I'm feeling like a gueuze, this will be the one I grab for sure. I'd love to try a fresher version of this to compare to the 2+ year old one I had tonight.

Appearance: Pours a completely clear tawny golden apple cider colour with a frothy head that quickly subsides to a thin pool of foam in the middle of the glass and a thin rim, though bubbles continue to rise. Honey and amber tones when held up to the light. Lace appears after refilling the glass, alongside an archipelago of bubbles on the surface. I decided not to add the yeast, which had formed a tight ring at the bottom of the bottle, fearing it would only add chalkiness. However, after the second refill, the beer has taken on a yeasty haze and is no longer clear.
Nose: Pear and lemon drops immediately. Slight vanilla and oak, with some musty leather. Then the brettanomyces notes kick in - sour, lactic, but not overpoweringly so. Field berry notes follow, with a pleasant, grassy hoppiness. Maybe even some banana and spice. Refilling the tasting glass from the bottle offers a distinctly herbal note of rosemary.
Taste: In the mouth I note vanilla and fruit, followed by an acute tartness which fades very quickly, revealing oaky vanilla and a slight tobacco finish. The tartness is reminiscent of tart plum skin, and the vanilla flavour is accompanied by a sweetness that counters the tartness. Again there is a grassy, hay-like note of aged hops, and a slight metallic bitterness. I also detect elements of choke cherry and something refreshing that I can't pinpoint (aside from the tartness) - maybe a very faint menthol note. The carbonation is prickly and a bit shocking, although not surprising for the style. There is some spice on the finish, including nutmeg.

Overall: One of the best, if not the best, gueuze I've ever had. The acidity is calmer than most and the tartness doesn't linger. The vanilla and oak are more prominent than in other lambics I've tried, which is very pleasant. The fruit, grass and spice notes combine very nicely. I find it interesting that they use a 60:40 ratio of barley to wheat as opposed to the usual 65:35, and that the alcohol is high for the style. I'd love to try an older example.

2005 bottling:
This beer poured a cloudy orange color and formed a nice off white foamy head the left lattticed lace as it subsided. A medium amount of carbonation is present. An aroma of citrus, yeast and that musty aroma of gueze styles. The flavor was of citrus and bread. The body was medium light and the finish quite tart, but typical of the style. A nice beer.

This beer poured a cloudy golden color with a thing and quickly receeding white head.

Aroma is of wild yeast and oak. Tart notes make the mouth water.

Taste is exceptionally tart. Sour fruit, as well as a sort of rye feel.

Mouthfeel is thin, but carbonation brings a bite that makes it feel more full.

Drinkability is low to moderate. The sour in this beer can be overwhelming, but the flavor is quite nice. Definitely share the bottle, I drank the bulk of the bottle, but I did share a few glasses of this 750 and it was difficult at the end to finish. My taste buds were shot for the rest of the night.

It pours from caged & corked and then gold foiled 750ml bottle( bottled 17 Jan 2006) a cloudy and very bubbly orange with a 2 finger head of foam(it started to semi gush about 5 seconds after opening) and some nice sticky lacing. The foam shrinks to a solide layer after a while but stays for the entire session.

The smell I noticed as soon as I popped the cork. Very sour with notes of lemon, and some minor spice in there as well but *that* was hard to pick out.

The taste on first sip is also very sour but I almost immediately notice some peppery notes and a good flavour of funk that work together to cut some of the sourness. Ah, this is a fine sipping brew..I guess I'm a fan of the style because I certainly do favour sour ales of similar ilk.

The mouthfeel is on the thin side(that's ok) and the carbonation isn't as high as I would have thought judging from the pour. The finish is has a citrusy dryness to it along with another dash of pepper and funk. I'm finding that the contents of the bottle are dimishing way to quickly...always a good sign when I'm having a brew. ;^)

Bottom line: A very tasty and enjoyable sipping example of the style that I can only recommend but I'd also recommend trying before buying(if at all possible) because sour ales aren't everyone's cup of tea. ;^)

The flavors of this beer have blinded me. Looks are not important at this point. After a bit of vinegar smell, I should have been ready, but I wasn't. taste is sour vinegar. Not much else. Just pure sour. Mouthfeel is thin, drinkability is poor. I finished the bottle, but man was it rough. My stomach felt extremely warm once I finished. Not my idea of a good time.

Poured from 750ml bottle into a Drie Fonteinen gueuze glass. Poured a hazy orange color with a slight dirty blonde hue. Nice champagne like head that left little after a minute. The smell was a mixture of sour fresh musty citrus, a bit of brett and barnyard funk finish. Taste is pleasantly sour kind of like a lemon teaish flavor with a slight acidic vingear present and the drynish that on the finish mixed with the champagne like carbonation makes this a great example of gueuze.

The cork came out of the bottle without any pressure. It poured a clear orange color with no head at all. The aroma is dry and sour with hints of sour apples and some barnyard character. The flavor isn't overly sour it is flat though and it makes it very boring to drink. Thin mouthfeel, I would like to try an older version.

T: The taste pretty much follows the smell with an even bigger helping of funk, sour cherry, wet oak, and earthy berry flavors. Seems like a near perfect balance funky, earthy flavors and sour fruityness.

M: Sour and puckery at first. As this warms up it becomes smoother and drier. Sour, fruity finish lasts forever.

This beer was a pretty good gueuze, although I found it very acetic, and although the sourness was nice I would've enjoyed a bit more sourness and champagne character. Nonetheless, still pretty good. Thanks to SurlySober for sharing this bottle with me.

Appearance was an attractive hazy straw color with two fingers of fluffy white head. Aroma was a mix of light champagne character, acetic vinegar-ness, and a bit of fresh-cut apple fruitiness. This beer also seemed a bit light-struck. Flavor was rather sour, but didn't totally make me pucker. There was also some light apple and champagne notes. Mouthfeel was fairly light and bubble-y and appropriate. I did enjoy this beer and would recommend it.

bottle picked up at City Wide Liquors in South Bend, although the bottle was smaller and looked like the "vintage 2002" version. This one was bottles Nov. 30, 2005. Poured bubbly and red to orange brown on the pour with a puffy white head. The head disappeared almost immediately and the beer really calmed down a lot. Odor is extremely tart smelling...cherries, strawberries, dank-ness. Hugely sour at first gulp...lemon juice sour. whoo! Then some bretty-barnyard-ness on the finish. Second sip is much more subdued once all my tastebuds have been smached to bits. Dry, tart cherries in vanilla and oak flavor. Rich and effervescent. Towards the end of the glass, the horsey flavor and fruits meld nicely and its a real pleasure. Medium bodied and well balanced. Very nice. Im not too experienced with the style, but i enjoyed it and would have it again.

Thanks to BankerJoe for this bottle. It's a 12oz Belgian bottle that he brought back rather than the imported 22oz bottle.
Pours a light straw color. Forms a moderate head, but nothing too rocky. Pretty typical for the style.
Smell's sour and citrus. Picking up a little grassy hops and some barnyard-esque yeast, but the sourness dominates.
Spicy! Yes, the flavor starts sour, but there's a strong peppery bite to the finish. Very citric, but the finish is peppery (maybe some sea salt) and dry. There's minimal aftertaste, so it's really easy to drink a few sips to take everything in.
Body's somewhat thin, but it holds the flavor very well.
It's obviously really sour, but the spiciness is unique enough to make you come back. I'm not a huge fan of the style, but I do like this item and might revisit it if the price is right.

A 750 mL corked and caged bottle purchased at State Line a few months back. The ale is dated 28-Feb-2004.

A: The ale is a darker orange, full of brown notes that results in a applesauce color. The haze is appreciable, a result of the last pour of the bottle. The head is quite large, almost overflowing my Chimay glass on at least two occasions.

S: The nose is dominated by the barnyard aromas, thick and tart. The tartness does not include the sour vinegar angle that I find unpleasant.

T: The tartness is apparent from the first sip. Tart green grapes lead off, sour with hints of sugary sweetness. Barnyard flavors intermingle with and fuel the tartness, ramping up the flavor seemingly with every sip. Further investigation reveals more fruit flavors, some citrus to rival the grapes. The tartness remains biting throughout.

M: The mouthfeel is tough, thick with bitter funkiness. The grassy citrus notes make this a good beer to sit and slowly sip.

D: The moderate abv is great, allowing for a full-bodied and flavorful ale with a 10% abv pricetag. I am not a 100% convert to this style but I'm working on it